Zionism: Stage Two

By Guy Rakover


Rape, corruption, partisan politics and retreat from tradition shroud our state in confusion and result in stagnant social and cultural development. The things we choose to tolerate in our society define our daily lives, and the future of our country. At the time of the founding of our modern day state we were unified in the struggle to be independent. The lack of a homeland and the desire to build one united religious and secular in a common goal. After many wars and economic developments, the modern day tribes of Israel, be it Shas or Likud, Meretz or the NRP, are retreating into themselves, worrying about their parties or particaular segments of society rather then the greater good of the state. This detachment from the nation of Israel at large causes us to revert to pre-WWII Jewish society. We have once again become a group of disconnected communities that deal with each other only because we have to, not because we are looking to finally after 2000 years of exile be united as a nation.

The result is that the ultra-orthodox and the extreme left are living as if there was no war, no return of the exiled to our national homeland, and are once again either waiting for heaven to live their lives for them or trying to forget they are Jewish. The gap grows, and though different in their life styles, they are similar in their treatment of their concept of Klal Yisrael, the nation of Israel in its entirety.

The only true movement that has the interest of the nation as a whole, whether in Galut or here in Jerusalem, is Zionism. HaRav Kook said that the Zionist movement, be it secular or religious, is holy in that it is the individual Jew’s effort to connect with the nation of Israel as a whole. Zionism is what brought us together and is what our state and the future of our nation is built on.

The first stage of Zionism is now complete. In 1948 we established our state and in 1967 we completed her borders. Jews from all over the world have returned to the land to take part in the building of our national homeland, the center of our culture and the future of our nation. We have developed economically, militarily and have established ourselves on the world stage.

It is time to begin the second stage of our Zionistic future. Now that we have united on our land and built our state we must develop our society. This is the key to our future. We don’t need demonstrations fighting for Arab rights, we need to fight for Jewish rights. We need to look internally and bridge the gaps, which have developed from our false sense of security and comfort. 60 years ago, a minor blip in our grand history, we were still a stateless nation, refugees with no home nearing the end of a long exile. We have grown fat, taking the success of the last half-century for granted.

We cannot sit and wait. We must unite the nation.

The second stage of Zionism, in my opinion, requires us to take a good look inside of ourselves, and first and foremost to insure that each Jew is connecting to the nation as a whole, be it in prayer or in uniform. We have always lived in tribes, but they united under one flag. We must unite. The barriers between our groups and parties must be destroyed as far as to allow us to truly mean it when we say, “My brother.” Each of us, the Hassidic Jew from Meah Shearim in Jerusalem to the secular Jew in southern Tel Aviv, must first look internally and ask the question, “Am I really connected to my brothers? Is my life connected to the nation as a whole?” It is not what the nation can do for the Jew, but what the Jew can do for the Jewish nation. Any other behavior is only a reversion back to ghetto life or the complete loss of our national identity.

I, for one, am not ready to live as a Galut Jew. We must unite under our flag. We must take pride in our cause and build our country into what it truly is: The redemption of the nation of Israel.

Jerusalem Day

By Guy Rakover

According to Israeli law it is forbidden for a Jew to pray on the temple mount.

On Jerusalem day we marked 40 years since the modern liberation of Jerusalem in its entirety, reminiscent of when David conquered the city for the first time and moved the capital of the Hebrew kingdom from Hevron to the holy city. Out of all of the embassies of foreign nations, all but seven are boycotting the festivities celebrating the reunification and liberation of the Jewish capital, including our dear friend the United States. Most justify their actions by expressing their desire to remain impartial in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The truth is that by boycotting the event openly they are demonstrating their belief that Jerusalem can, and perhaps should, one day be divided again. The only way that our closest allies can entertain this scenario is because we allow them to believe that this is truly a possibility.

It was reported that Knesset member Yossi Beilin of the Meretz party is joining the Arab members boycott of the day. Not only after forty years since the liberation of the old city is it illegal for a Jew to pray on the temple mount, a law that was enacted shortly after the six day war, we have Jewish members of Knesset demonstrating to split the city in two.

The situation in Jerusalem is a microcosm of the condition of our state and nation as a whole. We are torn between a desire to emulate and appease the western civilizations and national pride in our history and traditions. The so-called balance a large percentage feels that we have reached is not working. Our enemies have not become our friends. Our compromises are not appreciated.

There cannot be a Jewish state without the state’s laws and character actually being wholly Jewish. We can’t claim sovereignty over the land if we are not justifying our claims through action. If we don’t defend our historical and traditional rights and beliefs then what are we doing in the land of Israel? We need to make a choice: either we close up shop or we start to identify with who we are and where we come from. We need to take pride in ourselves, and stop allowing the foreign nations make us feel guilty for being Jewish in its truest form. We must decide if we are bold and confident enough in our heritage to begin realizing the true dream that is the return to the land and the redemption of the nation: the rebuilding of the Temple on Mount Moriah and the true establishment of the State of Israel as the national center of the Jewish people.

“Ay tu Olmert?”

By Guy Rakover

I flip through the news this morning and article after article I see the classic blame-shifting that has become so familiar in modern politics. Olmert blames Halutz, Peretz jumps on the bandwagon and does the same. It is like they are all sitting in a room quietly till one of them says, “Ok, one of us has to die to appease the mob. Who’s it going to be?” That may satisfy people who just glance at the headlines and say, “Well, let’s hope it was really his fault,” but as someone who served in the second Lebanon war, I am not appeased.

The politicians have gotten used to rectifying mistakes by offering us a sacrificial lamb. It is like they are a mob of con artists that are trying not to get caught in the fix, and when the mob chooses a victim they display no honor amongst thieves, and do whatever they must to hold onto to their jobs. How are we not ashamed of our elected officials? Yes, we elected these men and women, sent them to the parliament and this is what they do with the power we have granted them. The problem is that we watch the news as if it is a sitcom or soap opera, and then we send them back as if we are voting in order to keep our favorite characters on the show. I don’t think that the show should be canceled; obviously it just needs a re-write.

Some members of parliament are screaming for elections, others are saying that we should call for an emergency government in order to not look completely incompetent in the eyes of our enemies. Both options seem futile to me on the basis of the motivations behind them. When I hear Leiberman say that we should not have elections he is making himself look like he is not interested in the position of prime minister, and that only means that he is. Maybe he wants to hold on to the power he has because he fears he would lose it in an election? Politicians like Natenyahu call for elections, but we have seen his government in action in the past. There were positive economic developments but the rest was stagnant. He demands that a leader have a vision. I couldn’t agree with him more, too bad he doesn’t really have one.

So where do we go from here? It is hard to tell until a new option comes along. Perhaps we should all vote for the tiny parties, give them a chance to mess with things. In any case, one thing is clear: We need new blood in the arena. We need to have someone who cares more about the country and its future then his own political success and profit. The problem is that the minute a person like that would step into the arena he would most likely be stabbed to death on the Knesset floor.

The Honest Politician

By Guy Rakover

Last night, as I was walking home from a trip to the 24-hour convenience store at the corner and I saw a man in the street yelling about politics. He said, “Everyone is corrupt! It’s all about money and politics and that is why the Messiah does not come!” The man seemed satisfied with himself for voicing his opinion and then quieted down.

There is a lot of truth to what he said, in the sense that we do not have a peaceful balance inside the nation because we are not honest to each other. Politicians are openly and justifiably in most cases caught bending the rules or abusing their power. A country of favoritism, “protectsia” as it is called in the local slang, causes the continued corruption and distortion of our system.

We are to blame. What do we do when we see that politicians are corrupt? We continue voting for them. As long as we continue to vote into office corrupt partisan leaders, who place the importance of their own party’s or individual agendas ahead of the good of the state then it will only get worse. We are already at a point where most Israelis accept it as “the cost of doing business,” and to some degree they are right. What are our options? Not to vote? Should we become like most other democracies around the world where only around 40% of registered voters participate in elections.

This is not our nature. We as a people participate in the day-to-day events in our state, out of interest or necessity, and are active in its political future. The problem is that the average voter looks at the options in the voting booth and chooses the lesser of evils.

Our fathers’ generation has failed to produce a truly visionary and patriotic leader. Now in the wake of the Winograd report, we call to arms to replace one corrupt leader with another. Who would win in an election? Natenyahu? Barak? Both held office and both failed to truly bring a new direction to the state. Neither is clean from scandal, yet they return. A friend of mine once observed that Israel is probably the only democracy in the world where a leader can leave the limelight of politics, shrouded in scandal, and then return with a clean slate no less then a decade later.

Unfortunately, until we have a leader worth voting for we will continue to choose the one that we think, with our limited pool of information on what is truly going on, will cause the least damage. Israelis want a good leader, a leader with a true vision and a conscience that will hold him honest. That wont cheat or steal simply because it is wrong, and that by doing so he violates his oath of office. And when this person appears our population will come out in droves to support him.

This is the irony. The present politicians battle it out through dirty methods and believe that it is worth it in order to get into office. The truth is that if one truly honest visionary leader would stand up and appeal to all he would change the face of the state and the nation as we know it.

Mickey Mouse for Islam

By Guy Rakover

Today I read an article that discussed a popular children’s program on the Hamas owned television station ‘Al Aqsa.” The program features a character similar in appearance to Mickey Mouse that performs for an audience of children. Some of his messages to the Palestinian and Arab youth in general throughout the Middle East are good advice: brush your teeth, drink milk, etc. However, along with this advice he teaches the children that they must destroy the evil Zionists and that Muslims must conquer the world.

This type of anti-Semitic propaganda is not a new phenomenon. There is clear evidence of such leading up to the holocaust in the form of children’s books and games depicting the Jew as “the evil poisonous mushroom” and so forth. I could go deeper in detail into the depth of this aspect of the Hamas Mickey, and many have written numerous research papers on the topic of anti-Semitic propaganda, however I would like to focus on something else that jumps to my attention.

It is a sad state of affairs when the nations of the world validate and support a regime that teaches war and hatred and perpetuates a state of anarchy for its citizens. The Palestinian Authority controlled overtly by the Hamas terrorist organization receives funding not only from enemy states such as Iran and Syria, but also from the so-called ”civilized” nations of the world. Even internal elements in our society force financial support to be given, only resulting in the perpetuation of this incubator of war and hate. And on the occasion where there is a clear image of perverted reality, such as Mickey Mouse teaching children to declare Jihad on the entire world, the international community ignores the symptoms.

One thing that we must get clear in our minds in order to insure our survival and to avoid tears within the nation is that the Palestinian Authority would like to see us all go away. They have built their society on hatred of Jews and the State and without that hatred those in charge have no power. Let the nations of the world battle with right and wrong and wander around in the gray, the Jewish nation will not and can’t afford to. We tear at each other while they rearm; we uproot our homes so that they can expand their base of terror. Before deciding the right course of action, we must at least see the truth for what it is: We are surrounded by breeding grounds of hate. The Arabs do not want peace with Israel. War is how their leaders got to power in the first place and hatred for the “Zionist Enemy” is what perpetuates their societies. The sooner we realize that the clearer our vision of reality will become.

To Behave “Israeli”

By Guy Rakover

I was on my way home from work the other day, walking down Yafo street in Jerusalem, and a man yelled out to me, “Give me a light!” I looked back and saw a middle-aged man wearing a Kipah with an engaging grin on his face.

I walked back to him, and as I handed him my lighter I said, “Please.” He gave me a strange look as if not understanding what I was trying to say to him. I looked him in the eyes and said, “Can I Please have a light.”

At that moment I saw it click in his head what I was trying to say and responded, “So what if I didn’t say please? So what?”

I looked back at him and said softly, “Derech Eretz (literally “way of the land” a concept in Jewish culture meaning kindness and decency towards strangers). You are a religious man, correct? Derech Eretz.” I then smiled and continued on my way home.

I mention this event as an example of one of the things that we can do in our daily lives to improve our home. Throughout our history we have destroyed the fabric of our society by a lack of common decency and consideration to our fellow citizens. All of our exiles resulted from an element of baseless hatred to our fellow Jew and in my daily life I see symptoms of this disease. This must be corrected.

The expression “Israeli” has come not only to mean someone born in the modern State of Israel but also someone who is pushy, rude, and loud. When did we become such ill-behaved people? How long until we learn from our mistakes? Rabbi Akiva was asked to describe the whole Torah in one sentence and he responded, “Love they neighbor as you would yourself. The rest is commentary.” Why have we forgotten these words of wisdom?

We must not mimic our society in this respect, for so far we have failed. It is in our hands to change this terrible characteristic of our society, and don’t think that if you start smiling and greeting people as the Kabbalah instructs, with a bright and welcoming face, you will get the same response. This should not dissuade you from behaving correctly. Just because the right course of action is not popular, does not stop it from being the correct path. Therefore, in your daily life observe yourself, see if you are truly behaving as you would like to be treated.

Above all we must be kind to each other, for we are brothers, united in our land. We must all make an effort in our daily lives so that one day to be “Israeli” will mean to be an elegant, proper and well-behaved human being, an example to all of mankind.

Cultural Thieves

By Guy Rakover

The students’ protests around the country can’t help but bring the concept of education to our attention. The level of knowledge that its average citizen possesses can measure a society, and inevitably shapes and defines the societies moral and cultural characteristics. An educated society is a strong society, hence the expression, “knowledge is power.”

There are many arguments against the Ministry of Education regarding the quality of education that our state’s youth is receiving. As I am not yet a parent and it is difficult for me to completely engage in the daily battle of educating our children, I can only view the issue from a distance. With this in mind, I believe that there are many important things to keep in mind when dealing with the issue of education.

It says in the Talmud that if you do not teach your child a trade, you teach him to be a thief. This can be applied not only to an actual profession by which he sustains himself, but also as to the cultural lessons that should be taught. If you do not teach your child the history of our people, our culture and ancient traditions, then you are teaching him to be “a thief”, he will steel his morals and values from other races and cultures, who in reality are all distortions of our forefathers’ teachings.

In a democratic society, the state is a reflection of the people. Elected leaders dictate policy so in the end of the day the citizens are responsible. The Jewish people at large, those residing in the homeland and those still in the Diaspora, need to actively engage their children and teach them the history of our people. It is essential to the future of our state that we embrace our history and instill the values of our fathers in our youth. If not then we are abandoning our children, and leaving them to be educated by western popular culture and “so-called” eastern mysticism.

I feel that in many cases, as our citizens reach the stage in their lives when they search for spirituality, they do not look within. Due to the lack of respect for our traditions that is instilled in them from their childhood, they look to other religions and cultures before truly investigating their own. When searching for an understanding of universal truths why look to what was written a couple hundred years ago when you can benefit from what our ancient wise men said thousands of years ago. In our culture there is an analytical process, even dialogue, which has developed over the course of over 3000 years. Shouldn’t our children be aware of this? Don’t we have a responsibility to expose them to this vast knowledge?

It is not surprising that so many of our children are “cultural thieves” for our biggest fault as a nation is that we have not learned from our history. Until we do, we will be doomed to repeat it, and the first stage in this process is true Jewish Education.